A Prayer for National Deliverance
1 Why have you abandoned us like this, O God?
Will you be angry with your own people forever?
2 Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago,
whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe.
Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived.
3 Walk over these total ruins;
our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple.
4 Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;
they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.
5 They looked like woodsmen
cutting down trees with their axes.
6 They smashed all the wooden panels
with their axes and sledge hammers.
7 They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire;
they desecrated the place where you are worshiped.
8 They wanted to crush us completely;
they burned down every holy place in the land.
9 All our sacred symbols are gone;
there are no prophets left,
and no one knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you?
Will they insult your name forever?
11 Why have you refused to help us?
Why do you keep your hands behind you?
12 But you have been our king from the beginning, O God;
you have saved us many times.
13 With your mighty strength you divided the sea
and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;
14 you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan
and fed his body to desert animals.
15 You made springs and fountains flow;
you dried up large rivers.
16 You created the day and the night;
you set the sun and the moon in their places;
17 you set the limits of the earth;
you made summer and winter.
18 But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you,
that they are godless and despise you.
19 Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies;
don't forget your persecuted people!
20 Remember the covenant you made with us.
There is violence in every dark corner of the land.
21 Don't let the oppressed be put to shame;
let those poor and needy people praise you.
22 Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause!
Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long.
23 Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies,
the continuous noise made by your foes.
Ekemo molwehanauno lotembeli
Ounongoimbilo waAsaf.
1 Akutu Kalunga, oshike we tu ekelelashi fiyo alushe,
needi doufita woye, oshike we di fulila onya?
2 Dimbulukwa eongalo loye, eli we liongelela nalenale,
nowe li likulilila, li kale epata loyelela.
Dimbulukwa omhunda yaSion,
ei ho kala kombada yayo.
3 Yukifa omanha oye koikuluputu yonale;
akutu, omutondi okwa pulungusha po
oinima aishe yomouyapuki.
4 Ovatondi voye otava ulile
meni longulu yoye yokwoongalela;
ova dika mo oiulikilifo yokumonikifa efindano lavo.
5 Opa fa omufitu, ou ovanhu ve u yedela omakuva,
ndele tave u tetaula po.
6 Ndele paife ve li po tava xwandaula yo
oihongwa yayo aishe youlenga nomakuva neendjudo.
7 Ouyapuki woye ove u xwika po,
onhele yedina loye ove i nyateka nai
fiyo okomukangha.
8 Momitima davo ova tya:
“Tu va nyonauneni po shimwe.”
Opo nee eengulu adishe dokwoongalela
ove di xwika po moshilongo ashishe.
9 Oiulikilifo yetu iyapuki itatu i mono vali;
kape na vali omuxunganeki,
ndele mufye kamu na umwe
ta shiiva nokutya, fiyo onaini.
10 Akutu Kalunga, fiyo onaini hano to efa
omunafundo e tu sheke,
nomutondi a kale ta sheke edina loye?
11 Molwashike mbela to alula eke loye?
Ahowe, nana olulyo loye monghwapa,
u va nyonaune po.
12 Kalunga, Oove ohamba yange yonale, nghee nda dja;
oshilonga shexupifo oho shi longo kombada yedu.
13 Meenghono doye owa li wa tukula efuta pokati,
nomitwe deengadu owe di nyanyaulila kombada yomeva.
14 Oove ou, wa tetaulile omitwe daLeviatan,
ndele to di pe oifitukuti yomofuka, di liwe po.
15 Oove ou, wa fulukifile eedjo nomilola, nomilonga,
edi da li da tondoka omeva nale, owe di pwiininifa.
16 Omutenya owoye noufiku owoye,
Oove ou, wa tula ko omaminikilo keulu.
17 Oove ou, wa pangelela edu eengaba, di li dingilile;
okwenye nokulombo nokufu,
Oove omushiti wayo.
18 Omwene, shi dimbulukwa,
omutondi eshi te ku sheke,
oshiwana sha laipala, otashi dini edina loye.
19 Omwenyo wonghuti yoye ino u efela koilyani,
oukalimwenyo wovakwanaluhepo voye
ino u dimbwa fiyo alushe.
20 Dimbulukwa ehangano letu nanye!
Osheshi oikololo yoshilongo
oiyadi eenhele doumbudi.
21 Ino efa omufininikwa a dje po a limbililwa;
eehepele nomapongo nava tange edina loye.
22 Akutu Kalunga, fikama,
kondjela oshikondjelwa shoye!
Didilika omasheko, eshi to shekwa
kovapwidi keshe efiku.
23 Ove ino dimbwa omauyaano ovatondi voye,
nomakolokoto ovakondjifi voye aa itaa dimbuka.
